IMSLP-EU ~ Report

IMSLP-EU is an autonomous initiative undertaken in Europe to allow European users to access scores that are public domain in Europe but not in the U.S. or Canada. This is possible because IMSLP-EU servers are physically located in Europe (currently, in The Netherlands), so scores that are in the public domain in such territory can be freely used by anybody. This would be beneficial for all users located in Europe and in other countries where similar copyright regulations apply.

IMSLP-EU is not affiliated with IMSLP, being a completely independent and autonomous initiative. Complete separation between IMSLP and IMSLP-EU is intended to avoid confusion between the respective roles, areas of competence, and applicable regulations: IMSLP follows U.S. and Canada regulations only, while IMSLP-EU follows EU regulations only (with reference to their specific application in The Netherlands).

The IMSLP-EU score catalogue is integrated within the Petrucci Music Library: there is no difference when searching IMSLP-EU scores with respect to IMSLP scores, as both sets are indexed in the catalogue of the library.

However, when a score at IMSLP-EU is going to be downloaded by a user, a special page is presented so as to inform and warn the user that he/she is leaving the IMSLP context and entering the IMSLP-EU context, where different regulations apply. The same special page provides a PayPal link for donations to IMSLP-EU: being completely autonomous with respect to IMSLP, IMSLP-EU needs independent funds to cover its operational expenses.

The start of operations of IMSLP-EU was announced on July 10, 2010. Here are some figures after 6 months:

Total uptime: 99.94%

Number of files downloaded: more than 820,000

Number of files present on the server: about 1,300

Average number of downloads per file: about 630

Largest number of downloads for a single file: more than 31,000 (the full score of “Pini di Roma” by Ottorino Respighi).